Random thoughts for those who care what I have to say

I can't believe it's already Playoff time. My Pistons were incredible this season. They finished with the NBA best and an all time franchise best record of 64-18. Not too shabby. No surprise but they are heavily favored to win their 2nd NBA title in 3 years. I'm so excited about the playoffs this year. The last two years have been magical despite the heartbreaking loss in game 7 of the finals last season but this season is more special than most. I'll be watching each and every game with my brand new mid season acquisition and rookie Piston fan, Andrew J. Fayne. I know he's a bit too young to appreciate it now but it means the world to me. It's crazy to think that by the time he is old enough to care about Basketball, Ben Wallace will be an old man, and Tayshaun Prince will be getting ready to retire. To me it seems like yesterday that Isiah Thomas, Joe D, Bill Laimbeer, and the rest of the Bad Boys were winning championships. I remeber sheading a few tears after they lost to Bulls in the eastern conference finals in 1991. I knew an era had ended. I'm not ready to think about the end of this Piston era. Just thinking about that makes me feel old. Fortunately most of our guys are in their prime, so we should be contending for at least the next 3 or 4 seasons. Just long enough for me to instill strong Piston values and loyalty into my Son. Anyway, last night, my Son tightened his diaper, threw on his Ben Wallace jersey, and sat down with a cold, I guess it was acutally hot.....glass (breast) of milk and watched our Pistons handle the Bucks in Game one. So my little rookie fan has a 1 - 0 record. Only 15 more wins and the little guy will have won a title in his first season as a Fayne and die hard Detroit Pistons Fan

Just before I got married a few of my friends told me I had better buy my last gadget before the big day because it would be the last for a long time. That logic might apply to other guys but I may be married to my technology just as much as I am to my Wife. Let's face it, a computer and a good internet connection can be an adequate substitute for a good wife. Guys, you know what I'm talking about ;) Fortunately my Wife has accepted my digital lifestyle and in fact, has embraced embraced that lifestyle as her own. So I'm lucky a guy. My house could be what Steve Job's had envisioned when he coined the term, "Digital Lifestyle."

Earlier this week I completed my collection and added a long absent piece of technology to the mix. I got an excellent digital video camera from Panasionic. The PV-GS300 It's a 3 CCD miniDV camera that takes some excellent video. So now, with an iMac G5, a Canon Digital Rebel, a Pentax Optio S4i, a Panasonic PV-GS300, great web hosting from Geeklair.net, and .Mac, my Son's life will be captured in it's entirety in full digital goodness. Most of which will be presented right here. So stay tuned to my version of the 1998 classic, "The Truman Show." Only this time starring, Andrew Joseph Fayne.

Andrew's a very good boy. He was born on Monday and we just got home last night. We didn't miss a single Pistons game. The Pistons finished up a short west coast trip and had the last 3 nights off. I guess my boy already knows the Pistons schedule. So, tonight is a big night. It's very fitting that Andrew's first Pistons game is Pistons vs. Bulls. Daddy is a die hard Pistons fan but Andrew was born in Chicago. So tonight Andrew can decide his life long affiliation. I'm laying it all on the line, If the Pistons lose, He'll be a Bulls fan. Fortunately, my little dude will be wearing his first Ben Wallace jersey courtsey of Uncle Keshun, so I'm confident his Piston power will be strong.

My Son was born this morning at 3:27am. He was 7lbs 12.9 oz and 20.5 inches. Brooke battled the boy for 19 hours. He put up a good fight but with mother nature on her side Brooke won. Check out Andrew's .Mac website for his Birthday blog post and all of the all of his photos. I 'll post more tomorrow when we get the little guy home. I'm posting this from Panera bread across from the Hospital and there's not much bandwidth here so, I will post more tomorrow from home.

It's almost Daddy time. Little Andrew was due last Thursday (March 2nd) so I went to bed every night last week hoping I wouldn't be at work in the morning. Alas, the kid gave us no signs of his arrival so I suffered through five days of misery. Normally the weeks fly by at CDW but last week was torture. I didn't have a lick of focus. I was hoping Tuesday's Apple product announcements would tide me over but they were disappointing so all I could do was count the minutes to Daddy time. It was kind of like knowing you're about to get a new car but you have no idea when it'll arrive. I don't know if that quite captures the feeling, but I'm sure you have all had an experience you can relate to. Obviously my persepctive was quite different from Brooke's. She's been home on maternity leave for the last two weeks so I think she's been bored more than anything else. I admit I've been a bit jealous because I could sure use the time off too but she's more than earned the break. It's been a long nine months and the changes Brooke has gone through have been amazing. She's been so brave and so cool through the whole pregnancy. She's so ready to be a mom that I think any fear she has is smothered with pride. Even now, on the eve of the big birthday, she's cooler than I am. Andrew has a very special Mommy. I just can't believe I'm about to be a Dad. I've known it was inevitable for the last 9 months and I've dreamt about it for a lot longer than that but I feel like it was only a few short years ago that I was cuddling my yellow blanket and tearing up the plastic in my diapers. So, a new era for me begins tomorrow. We went to the Hospital this morning and Brooke is now in pre-labor. Her Dr. thinks AJ will be born sometime tomorrow so keep checking Andrew's blog for Photos and stats, we'll be posting all the details as we get them and wish us luck.

I've also published a Photocast if you have iPhoto 6, just click on the following link:

This Photocast will appear in your iPhoto Source list and you can use its photos just like any other photos in your library; for slideshows, your desktop, custom photo books, etc. And, whenever you are connected to the Internet, iPhoto will automatically update this Photocast so you see the latest photos I've added.
(Requires Mac OS X version 10.4 or later)

If you don't have iPhoto 6, you can view the photos in this Photocast with Safari RSS or any compatible RSS reader on Mac, Windows or other computers by using the link above. Just click on the link or copy it into the URL field of your RSS reader and bookmark the URL to return to the photos in the future.

I'm back. I took a bit of a hiatus. Life's been busy and it's about to get busier. I'm gonna be a Dad any minute now. I'm so excited. It's been a long 9 month wait but I've had a lot distractions to keep me occupied until now. We're so close I think the excitement and the nerves are finally kicking in. I haven't though about anything else for the past two days. Although, the Pistons have been off for a week so maybe this is just Piston withdrawal. Who knows, I just can't wait to have my little Piston buddy. I don't think I'm ever going to tell him he was born in Chicago for fear he may become a Bulls fan. We can't have that, I'd have to lock him in the basement bound and gagged in a Ben Wallace jersey. I don't think that counts as child abuse does it? I think it's a legitimate behavioral modification technique, don't you?

Anyway, Brooke has put together a sweet little website for little AJ to keep you up to date. Check out the site, Brooke made it using Apple's new iLife application called iWeb. It looks awesome and took no time at all. So all you non-mac users reading this site, Get a Mac already! I don't know if there are too many of you out there who actually know me, that don't have a Mac yet though. So after AJ is born we'll be adding a blog and even some video podcasts chronicling all of my little guy's firsts.

Andrew's site will be liked to this post and under the friends and family heading to the right. We'll be posting often so check soon.

Please forgive me. It's Friday night, and Gentleman's Jack has shown up this evening, so my writing is a bit off. Despite my impairment, this post is important so here it is. It took about 13 years to achieve adequate retribution but it has been had. My Uncle has paid my cousin back. 5 million dollars snatched from reality lead to 5 million calls from Detroit's finest. I wish I could say more but my fingers feel like the they are wrapped in steel and my brain is waging like a happy puppy. So instead of making you suffer through drunken prose check this out:

The poll has reinforced out original name choice. Our son will officially be called:

Andrew Joseph Fayne

Brooke and I want to thank everyone who has participated in this name game. We wanted to give our son a special name, a name that had a story behind it. Thanks to all of you, Andrew will be able to look back on this post to read the story of how he became the next Geek Fayne.

Thanks for the huge response on the naming poll. 40 votes in only a day. I don't think my blog has had 40 visitors all year.

Anyway, after we have digested the feedback over the weekend, we will be posting a revised poll with a few new name ideas along with their middle name combinations.

Currently out of the list below Brooke and I like Andrew and Joseph the best. However, we haven't really fallen in love with any of them. We both seem to like cool initial combos like AJ, JJ, CJ, TJ, JD, DJ, JT... but were having a hard time finding the names we like to fill in those initials.

We're open to some suggestions that aren't so conventional. So get creative, and make some suggestions. Thank you all for taking the time to participate in our lives!

Ok blog readers, I know there is only about 4 of you but I need some help. Brooke and I can't figure out what to name the baby. Before you vote, I want to give you a few details. I'd love to name my son after my Grandfather but his name is Norman. My wife is 4'11" and only about 5'9" so needless to say our boy has a good chance of being pretty short. Not sure the name "Norman" will treat the little fella too well once he gets to school. So, with that said, we tried and tried to think of other names that began with an "N" but nothing seems to fit. Nolan, Noah, Ned, Norbert.... We're really out of ideas. I kind of wanted his name to have some significance. Maybe name him after my favorite Detroit Piston. I'd name him Chauncey but my good friend's dog took that one already. Tayshaun is good but well you know, his arms won't be that long. Ben would work but my that's my first cousin's name. Rip, nah, not a fan or the braids. Rasheed? Well, NO. The only thing I love as much as the Pistons is Apple. Even though the boy will have his own click wheel onesie I can't name him iPod. My Mom likes Nano but I don't think Brooke could handle that. I could go with Steven P. Fayne but then I think that I would cross the line in between fanatic and freak. So, with all of that said, I need some help. Brooke and I set-up the poll below. Please vote for your favorite name and if you have another idea, post it in the comments field.